Another negative no M/T ( not even an option )
Also no "M-Sport" Versions here

The kit/features offered in the 328i sportline & 320d luxurplus is almost same.
In India BMW offers them as CKD’s so to give you an idea of the pricing from mimnimum to
maximum is;
320d base line – 62,000 US $ (aprox)
328i sportline – 88,000 US $ (aprox)

The 328i was a complete fully loaded model with almost all options without a few like lane departure warning, side vew cameras etc

Also another thing id like to point out is the Fuel prices;

Diesel – 1 US $/Litre
Petrol - 1.32 US $/Litre

In India the fuel for choice is Diesel because of the price differential (> 30%).
Also in the BMW line up cars like 320d, 520d, x3 20d, x6 30d, 730 ld are famous and contribute to major volume of Sales because of petrol being expensive.

Another reason petrol being non favorite is that high octane fuel is not available everywhere.
But for me i was clear that if i was going in for the F30 it is going to be the 328i.
Booking & Delivery Experience;

Two days after the launch i.e. on 29/7/12 i went to Infinity BMW (Location: Worli, Mumbai) for the test drive, was completely floored by the performance.

I was ready to book the car in " WHITE" Mumbai & ready to make the down payment (booking amount)

I was flexible for the interior colors i.e. either Coral Red or Black

Somehow i always wanted & desired a white Bimmer & so was adamant on getting a "White" only

I was not been given the clear picture regarding the status / inventory of "White" by either of the dealers in Mumbai.

They had the following reasons or may be spreading a rumor of the following ;

1) Infinity BMW Mumbai (1st BMW Dealership) say that the 328i Sportline production had stopped and BMW Chennai plant (India) would not be making any further 328i's

2) Navnit Mumbai (2nd BMW Dealership) said that 328i sportline is available only in MELBOURNE RED & IMPERIAL BLUE no other color is offered by BMW on this variant ( But the brochure did not specify any thing of that sort nor anything was said of this regard when i had gone for the launch party held on 27/7/12 )
- Out of which point no. 1 was partly true as BMW had only 50 units of 328i's allotted for 2012 and the next units would come in only by early 2013.

- 75% of the 50 Cars (328's) which were allotted in the 1st lot for India were in Melbourne Red & Imperial Blue , the rest being other colors including White ( so chance of location a white got even difficult)
I was heartbroken and was left helpless ( almost got myself convinced in going in for MELBOURNE RED)

In a day i had called many BMW Dealerships all across India Delhi, Jaipur , Raipur, Pune , Surat , A'bad & none of them had the 328 in white.

In the meanwhile my brother ( 15 years old ) called me up & said " Hey theres one White with Coral Red available at Platino Classic, Kochi (South of India) & he had called for pictures for proof etc.

Within 30 minutes we got their e-mail with pictures attached & i did not think much and just sent them an e-mail confirmation regarding my booking & got their confirmation as well & the next morning i did an RTGS of the booking amount of INR 5 lakhs to their A/C & Reserved the car & what a sigh of relief it was.

As the dealership was close to 1500 kms away from Mumbai i had to ferry the car from there to Mumbai on an FLAT BED truck.
(^ Couldn't drive down as registration was pending & you cannot drive non-registered cars for more)

The 1st pictures from the showroom (delivery experience) to the arrival of the car at National highway are as follows;

Apparently my car was the 1st to be delivered at the dealership so i received the keys from an top official at BMW, India & the GM of the Dealership.

The car being loaded on the flatbed and taken to Mumbai;

D-Day (21.08.12)

Also 21.08.12 happens to be my 25th B’day

So on the D-day the truck had reached Gujarat (out skirts)

I had jumped out of my bed @ 6 am and set out @ 6:45 from Mumbai (Mulund) towards Gujarat.

8:15 : I reached the destination it was the most pleasant sight to see transporter
standing beside the truck.

& This was the sight on my B'day in the morning,

^ what better gift could i have gifted myself , my first ever Bimmer

Got my car registered post the delivery and got the registration number as "747", was more than happy with that

As pretty much is already covered in reviews globally id keep it short & India specific outlook.

I am using 91 RON on since delivery and the performance seems strong without any engine knocking.

The reason to use 91 RON is the rare availability of high octane fuel in India.

With this i am still mighty impressed with the N20.

What BMW has tried to achieve here with this 4 cylinder turbocharged motor is to deliver the performance & smoothness of 6 pot with FE of 4 cylinders, which on paper is tough to argue.

Absolutely Savage Throttle Response. As the Peak Torque is so low down the rev range the performance is very linear for a Turbo Engine.

Overall i feel this 4 banger is mammoth fun.

The Indian Spec 328i comes standard with the “ Sport Automatic Gearbox “

In my opinion the gear changes are lightning quick, so quick that in the first 3 gearshifts it is very difficult to say when it changes the gear especially if you don’t look at the tacho.

^ However i would have opted for an M/T but as i said earlier no Manual option For India

In Comfort mode it is always perfect, no uneven downshifts, always in the right gear.

In Eco Pro it up shifts quite up which may not be useful on hilly areas (ghats)
also best used if you are ferrying a patient to the hospital & you want the ride to be smooth.
Handling & Steering;

The 3 series already has been legendary when it comes to handling so the F30 had a big task to better it & how , absoloute stellar handling thanks again to the Steering which acts sharp in the Sport & the Sport+ Modes , Very Precise.

Though the Indian spec version does not get sport suspension (which lowers the car by 10 mm) the handling is unbelievable.

EPS, Variable Sport Steering (Exclusive to 328i in India)

The steering precision is magical with the way it weighs up when you change from say Comfort to Sport.

^ all respect to the E90 hydraulic unit but this is simply great for an EPS in my opinion.

All in all the 328i in India is feature packed unlike the base 320d models in India

^ Though some features are missing in India like the Lane Departure Warning, Assisted Headlamps, Side view Camera & off course the HK System.

Some more pics of my car;

Overall i feel i am an very satisfied owner of the F30 & the new 3 has impressed me with the sharp & fresh new look being faster, lighter, more economical, with better ride quality / comfort keeping the handling dynamics in place making it truly ULTIMAT3.

You can make out from my smile in the pic below that indeed JOY IS BMW

Congratulations on your new Sportline and thank you for sharing your unique experience in India !
I'm sure you have some very challenging roads to drive on ! Enjoy your new F30. It looks great in Alpine white.

Congratulations on your new Sportline and thank you for sharing your unique experience in India !
I'm sure you have some very challenging roads to drive on ! Enjoy your new F30. It looks great in Alpine white.

Was your car built in India ?

Thanks a lot Derek !!!

Yes indeed the roads are pretty challenging to drive because of traffic & too many vehicles on small roads but this is within city limits otherwise the highways are pretty much fantastic to drive on & some great stretches indeed.

The best part is that theres not much of a problem with the speed limits as there is almost zero surveillance of speed cams/ radar

Congrats from the Basque Country
I give a lot of envy about what you say about speed limits. Here you can enjoy driving only in small mountain roads. The radars and limits are a plague...
My next goal: a 328i but not F30 but a F32... so, I still have to wait

Congratulations on your purchase. BMW know how to make cars and owners get hooked pretty quickly. The car looks stunning in white and I'm biased but I love the Coral Red interior (just like mine :-) . Thanks again for sharing your experience and enjoy your ride!

Very nice thread !! Thanks for sharing your experience !
A beautiful car you got yourself (for your bday on top of it)

I especially love all the photo and the grainy style !
VERY nice shots ! looks somehow almost too good !
I was freshly surprised by the shot of the 3 pulling up behind from the 5 !
And your comments are very well laid out !

Great Thread ! I hope there will be more to come here and there...

Be Safe out there ! So much can happen to you and others in Indian streets/roads!

Congrats from the Basque Country
I give a lot of envy about what you say about speed limits. Here you can enjoy driving only in small mountain roads. The radars and limits are a plague...
My next goal: a 328i but not F30 but a F32... so, I still have to wait

Hey,
Thanks a lot !!! Yes it is a boon for us out here & it truly is a different feeling i tell you when no ones watching you but on the other hand it is equally unsafe coz the traffic / lane discipline on highways is very amateurish here.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Markus2003

Congratulations on your purchase. BMW know how to make cars and owners get hooked pretty quickly. The car looks stunning in white and I'm biased but I love the Coral Red interior (just like mine :-) . Thanks again for sharing your experience and enjoy your ride!

Thanks !!!

Frankly i wanted the black with red stitch interiors but those werent available due to lack of inventory of 328s across India so i had to settle for the Coral red.
But i tell you that was a blessing in disguise coz these interiors simply grown on you n Alpine white / Coral red combo rocks

Quote:

Originally Posted by F555

Congrats o the new car..
I see that your 328i got more option than my 335i (highest spec in Indonesia).

Ye, but the price what the 328 is offered for in India i.e. aproxx 90k US$ is like M5 money

Very nice thread !! Thanks for sharing your experience !
A beautiful car you got yourself (for your bday on top of it)

Thanks a lot !!! & special thanks for rating the thread 5 *

Quote:

Originally Posted by DrivenByE30

I especially love all the photo and the grainy style !
VERY nice shots ! looks somehow almost too good !
I was freshly surprised by the shot of the 3 pulling up behind from the 5 !
And your comments are very well laid out !

Yes, the pictures have been a good compilation but all credit goes to my friend who clicked the the car in motion, he did good.

& Yes that 5'er is an 530d, quite like that machine too especially its color

Quote:

Originally Posted by DrivenByE30

Great Thread ! I hope there will be more to come here and there...

Be Safe out there ! So much can happen to you and others in Indian streets/roads!

wow bro!! congratulation on your new ride..
My F30 320I which cost me approx US$173,000 does not have much features as yours. especially the reverse sensor and the windscreen obometer display.. So envy..

wow bro!! congratulation on your new ride..
My F30 320I which cost me approx US$173,000 does not have much features as yours. especially the reverse sensor and the windscreen obometer display.. So envy..

wow bro!! congratulation on your new ride..
My F30 320I which cost me approx US$173,000 does not have much features as yours. especially the reverse sensor and the windscreen obometer display.. So envy..

U from singapore? Coz i cant think of a country which has such a hefty price on a car.